Setting the LA Clippers' Perfect Playoff Rotation

Among the Western Conference contenders, the Los Angeles Clippers are hoping for a deep playoff run come April.

A franchise that has just two playoff series wins to its name, the Clips, when healthy, are in the conversation with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs as the class of the conference.

While injuries have dropped Lob City in the standings, the combination of a loaded starting five and the deepest bench in the league should pay dividends this spring. Head coach Vinny Del Negro has often employed hockey-like line changes, playing five starters and then replacing them with five players off the bench.

An 11-man rotation might work fine during the regular season, but in the playoffs, rotations tend to get refined and shortened.

Who will lose minutes in the postseason? Who can we expect to take the lion’s share of playing time?

Here is a preview of what could be Lob City’s perfect playoff rotation this spring.

Falling Out of the Rotation

Although Green has started all but three games to date, the return of Chauncey Billups should relegate him back to the bench.

In fact, in the three games that Billups played, Green earned three consecutive DNP-Coach’s Decisions. However, if injuries continue to plague the veteran Billups, then Green will likely return to the starting lineup.

Hollins and Turiaf are in a different situation.

Hollins plays largely in garbage time, having already fallen out of the regular rotation. While Turiaf has been a staple of A Tribe Called Bench, he has begun to lose minutes to Grant Hill.

If the Clips are healthy in the postseason, Green, Turiaf and Hollins could fall out of the rotation almost entirely.

10) Off the Bench: Grant Hill

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Season averages: 4.3 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 1.3 APG, 6.87 PER

Minutes per game: 16.6

Breakdown: Grant Hill offers some nice versatility for the Clippers off the bench.

At 6’8”, Hill is long enough to defend lanky forwards, but has the discipline to stay in front of guards on the perimeter. In the pick and roll game, he is even more valuable, giving the Clippers the option to switch Hill onto either the ball handler or the roll man.

Still returning from an injury that sidelined him until mid-January, Hill has not really gotten into any offensive groove this season.

Even with the logjam at small forward, Hill should enjoy consistent, if not limited, playing time in the postseason. Nevertheless, do not expect him to be playing more minutes than Lamar Odom or Matt Barnes.

Even with his offensive deficiencies, Odom is still the Clips’ best big at defending the pick and roll, and brings more versatility than the ultra-athletic DeAndre Jordan.

More than ever, the Clippers need Odom to come through with some offensive aggression in order to keep defenses honest. Odom will likely be the first big called off the bench in the playoffs, and he will need to perform.

8) Off the Bench: Matt Barnes

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Season averages: 10.5 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 16.00 PER

Minutes per game: 26.1

Breakdown: Matt Barnes is having one of the best seasons of his career.

The Clippers rely on Barnes for his staunch perimeter defense, his mental toughness and deft off-ball cutting. Over the season, Barnes has enjoyed a nice chemistry with Chris Paul and always seems to be in the right place at the right time.

It helps that Barnes has reasserted himself as a three-point threat. After two subpar seasons with the Lakers, Barnes is shooting 34.0 percent from deep, the second best percentage of his career.

Barnes has already overtaken starting small forward Caron Butler in minutes per game (26.1 to 24.4). Expect the UCLA product to play heavy minutes, defending the opposition’s best perimeter threat this postseason.

At times, Bledsoe displays the type of game that has kept him among the most coveted young guards in basketball. In a 104-106 loss to the Boston Celtics, Bledsoe stuffed the stat sheet with 23 points, seven rebounds and 10 dimes on 60 percent shooting from the field.

In a no-show loss to the Toronto Raptors the game before, Bledsoe put up a clunker of just 10 points, two rebounds and three assists on miserable four-for-14 shooting.

With the lingering injury to Chris Paul, an interesting question has been brought to the fore: Does the Clippers’ second unit miss Mini LeBron more than the starting five misses Chris Paul?

This question is not to deflect the credentials or value of the All-NBA Chris Paul, but is more of an indication of Bledsoe’s value as the motor for A Tribe Called Bench.

At this stage of his career, Bledsoe appears to thrive more in limited minutes. During the Clips’ undefeated December, Bledsoe had the second highest PER among point guards in the NBA, only behind CP3.

Once Paul returns from injury, expect some normalcy to return to the Clippers’ rotation, as Bledsoe resumes his appropriate role with the bench squad.

6) Off the Bench: Jamal Crawford

Breakdown: A leading candidate for the Sixth Man of the Year Award, Jamal Crawford has thrived coming off the bench for Lob City this season.

Crawford has returned to the super sub that he was just a few years ago for the Atlanta Hawks, leading the Clippers’ reserves in points per game.

Along with Chris Paul, Crawford is one of the Clippers’ best isolation threats. Although he can throw up some head scratching jumpers, his ability to knock down the big shot and catch fire will make him all the more valuable this postseason.

3) Starting Small Forward: Caron Butler

Breakdown: At this stage of his career, Caron Butler has lost a lot of the explosiveness that made him one of the premiere small forwards in the game in his prime.

Butler is still finding ways to contribute however, knocking down a career high 38.3 percent of his shots from downtown. The UConn product is still one of the team’s most disciplined perimeter defenders and adds a component of toughness that this team sorely needs.

Come playoff time, Butler should enjoy his regular role as a starter, but will likely concede minutes to Matt Barnes off the bench.

1) Starting Point Guard: Chris Paul

Breakdown: All-NBA Point God, Chris Paul is the Clips’ best playmaker, best perimeter defender and best clutch threat.

The mayor of Lob City, Chris Paul’s presence on the court alone elevates the Clippers to contender status.

With Paul in the lineup, the Clippers are a sterling 29-10. With him sidelined, the team is a mediocre 6-6.

No point guard in the game has a better understanding of what his team needs than Paul. There are few players in the league that can both inspire confidence in his teammates and inspire fear in the opposition.

Simply, with Chris Paul in the lineup, the Clippers cannot be counted out of any contest they play in.